The first intruiging sounds I heard while making my way toward the Gobi tent early Friday afternoon emanated from IO Echo, a Los Angeles-based grungy goth band that has opened for NIN and scored the James Franco flick Rebel.

Here, female lead singer Ioanna Gika twirled and ran around the stage draped in a shiny silver wrap of some sort (it actually looked like a bin liner). Her wail recalled Siouxsie Sioux at times, while the musicians conjured up a Deftones-style squall.

Even more impressive was L.A. transplant Lord Huron, led by vocalist Ben Schneider. The seven-member alt-folk group drew a good-sized crowd to the Mojave tent, where they adeptly crafted a distinct rustic atmosphere. Several songs were led off by percussive bells and other handheld noisemakers.

Opening with "Ends of the Earth," from debut album "Lonesome Dreams," the reverb-drenched group harmonies, plus a mix of electric/acoustic guitars came across like a winning hybrid of My Morning Jacket and Dawes.

Schneider delivered impassioned vocals and pounded a single drum, making "She Lit a Fire" - with appropriate lyrics about "driving through the desert" - all the more powerful.

Another Southern California band, the Neighbourhood, has been getting plenty of attention lately, thanks to current Top 10 alt-rock single "Sweater Weather."

Performing to a large and enthusiastic crowd on the Outdoor Theater stage (one gal waved a sign sporting an image of a doctored Bill Murray from Stripes), the group proved only mildly interesting, just like when I saw 'em at the much more intimate Constellation Room late last year opening for Paul Banks.

Still, frontman Jesse Rutherford drew attention by crowd-surfing amid the moody "Float," got the crowd to wave their hands during "Alleyways" (both from major-label debut I Love You, out Tuesday) and told of how the band's seeds were sown while seeing Arcade Fire at Coachella a few years ago. "Sweater Weather" went down a storm.

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